A few years ago a friend and I went backpacking in the pristine wilderness of Denali National Park in Alaska. We bought every piece of equipment known to man to fight off Grizzly Bears, like pepper spray, bells etc. Before we set off, the rangers made us watch a video in which we were instructed to simply wave our arms …
Samurais don’t run in the rain…
The plane was on the tarmac and the clock ticked past departure time. The captain then announced ‘Ladies and gentlemen apologies for the delay. A passenger was running to get to the aircraft and tripped and hurt himself. Ground staff are attending to him and medical help is on the way. His luggage is also being off loaded’. You could …
How to move other people, in one simple step
On Tuesday I was flying into Auckland from Melbourne. The plane had already been delayed and it also took ages to board. We had all settled in and there was a row of 4 seats next to me and only 3 of those seats were occupied. The air hostess approached the man sitting in the middle seat who had an …
What the Batman trilogy can teach leaders
When I was about eight, a fruit bat flew into our house. My brother, sister and I ran screaming from the room, but I was also delighted. Why? I finally shared something in common with my hero, Batman – a fear of bats! So it was with complete joy and geek delight that I, a lifelong Batman fan, immersed myself …
‘Trust’- the ultimate business currency
Just recently I was staying in a hotel in central Auckland on work. I was pleasantly surprised when logging on and a message popped up saying ‘Guests can enjoy FREE wifi with no data cap or time limit’ . For me as a hotel guest this signalled that they trusted us the customers, to do the right thing and not …
What’s love got to do with it?
Do you love what you do? What about the people you work with, your co – workers, do you love your co – workers? Latest research shows that people who love their co-workers perform better and show up at work more. This is not romantic love but ‘companiate love’, based on warmth, affection and connection. In a Longitudinal study titled …
How to get a job at Google
In the heart of Silicon Valley a stark black and white billboard posed a mathematical question for commuters on Highway 101. The billboard read:{first 10-digit prime found in consecutive digits e}.com Some curious people did log on to the web to solve this and were led to another web page with another equation to solve. A few more equations and …
Making ‘Shift’ happen
What is going to shift for you in 2014? I have started 2014 on an introspective note, thinking what do I want to shift personally, professionally and if this is not too grandiose in the world. This is confronting but I am going to put it out there! Personally I want 2014 to be my year of fitness and professionally …
Steve Jobs, a black texta and the art of the ‘analog’ approach
My godmother was in hospital recently having her right knee reconstructed. On the day of the operation, the surgeon came in and carefully marked her right knee with a black texta before she was wheeled into the theatre. He wanted to make certain there was no mistake about which knee was due for the operation! Despite all the advancements in …
Who else wants to know Seinfeld’s secret to success?
Jerry Seinfeld was paid mega dollars to present his success secrets at a leadership conference. Apparently he mounted the stage stairs on the right and wrote 3 words on a big white board that had been set up in the centre of the stage and exited stage left. Seinfeld had written ‘DO THE WORK’! 3 simple words and his secret …